The Script of Sheep
by Ceray
Summary: Magical Melody Desiring to get an animal, the main character decideds to research the topic.


_I actually wrote this a over a year ago for a quality check on another site. Turns out the "check" was merely an April Fool's joke. Ahaha. But anyway, do the main playables of Magical Melody have names? If so could someone let me know? Well, this one can be seen from either gender's view, though the words used are more typical for a girl._

_Disclaimer: Ceray doesn't own Harvest Moon: Magical Melody characters or concepts._

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The Script of Sheep

"We have a lot of books," Maria smiled. "I'm sure that you'll find some that will help you start your farm."

I nodded at the mayor's daughter, and began to browse the shelves of books. As I scanned the shelves, I quickly reflected on how I got myself here in the first place. I had left my home in Destati Town, looking for an adventure, and I had ended up wandering from town to town. A few nights ago I had arrived here in Flower Bud Village late at night, or early in the morning, whichever one you want to choose. Originally I had intended to just stay a night at the inn before continuing on my quest for adventure, but the thing was… Flower Bud Village had no inn! The mayor had found me at the entrance to the village soon after my arrival and kindly offered me a home… However, in exchange I would have to start a farm in the village. Honestly, when you start a farm it's a lifetime commitment, but I was tired and I just wanted to sleep, so I had agreed. Perhaps not the smartest idea when left your home to be a wandering vagabond in search of an epic adventure of sorts. Though, maybe I did find that epic adventure.

Soon after settling in, three small… creatures, or fairies, or whatever approached me with a mission to revive some local goddess. It seemed I was the only one for the job since I was one of the two people who could see those tiny things and the other guy… or girl had some stick up their you-know-what, rendering them completely useless in the sprites request.

Looking back now, I think that it would be logical to question my sanity.

Anyway, I was currently in the library, reading up some information on animals found on a ranch or farm… aren't they the same thing? The first book I reached for was on sheep - cute little farm sheep. I pulled the book from its spot on the shelf and read the title on front cover, The Script of Sheep. I opened the book and began reading the book.

"Out of the four basic farm animals, sheep produce the most expensive product. However, due to the how often this product can be harvested, it's value is lowered slightly. The wool of sheep can only be harvested from an adult sheep once a week with the use of shears.

The happiness of the sheep greatly affects the quality of the wool that is harvested from it. Dull Wool, the lowest quality is worth only 630 gold. The highest quality wool, Shiny Wool, is worth 1800 gold, an 1170 gold difference. To ensure the highest possible wool quality, it is recommended to brush, speak, and feed your sheep before shearing.

The wool that is harvested from sheep can also be changed into yarn using a yarn maker. Turning the wool into yarn increases it's sale value, for example the dull wool, worth 630 gold becomes dull yarn which is worth 840 gold, and the shiny wool, selling at 1800 gold sells for 2400 gold as yarn.

Additionally, sheep can be entered into the Sheep Festival on the 29th of Summer, and sheep with the higher quality wool are more likely to win. However, sheep that are entered into the Sheep Festival must be fully grown, and must not be sick or pregnant."

I closed the book after reading about the Sheep Festival and placed the book back on the shelf. To me, sheep seemed to present the least amount of work (of course I hadn't looked at information regarding the other farm animals). All I would have to do would be to feed, brush, and talk to them. Okay, so maybe that was a good deal of work, but sheep were worth it; sheep were cute. I thanked Maria and exited the library, set on heading to the Blue Sky Ranch.

Outside the ranch, Blue was watching the animals as he usually did, and I waved to him, but as usual Blue ignored me. I sighed, wondering why he would ignore me. I didn't do anything to upset him, did I? Disregarding that thought and remembering my journey to obtain a sheep I headed inside. As soon as I could, I asked Hank, the shopkeeper, how much a sheep would cost.

"2500 gold," he answered flatly.

I paled and checked my pockets. All I had was a measly 1300 gold on me. I looked at Hank, blushing, and meekly asked, "Um… is there an animal that's worth 1300 gold or less."

"Yes, the chicken."

I blinked before grimacing a bit. It wasn't that there was anything really wrong with a chicken it was just that… When I was little I happened to have a very bad and traumatizing experience with chickens. Not only that, but I wasn't fond of eggs, unless those eggs were in some kind of dessert. I liked wool, wool was warm and eggs were… ugh.

But as much as I wanted a sheep, I couldn't deny the fact that I was just too poor for one.

Besides, I hadn't even built a barn yet.


End file.
